February 2019

CARNEGIE HALL PRESENTS

Anne-Sophie MutterLambert Orkis

Sunday, April 2, 2017
2 PM
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage

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“She plays anything and everything with scalding beauty,” wrote The Washington Post of violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter. In this concert, Mutter performs a late sonata by Mozart and a work by Sebastian Currier, a composer with whom she has collaborated closely over the course of her career. There’s also Respighi’s Violin Sonata in B Minor, notable for its haunting slow movement and daredevil finale; and Saint-Saëns’s Introduction and Rondo capriccioso, with its hair-raising, triple-stopping climax.

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At a Glance

SEBASTIAN CURRIER Clockwork

American composer Sebastian Currier has had a long and
fruitful association with Anne-Sophie Mutter, for whom he wrote his violin
concerto Time Machines, as well as
the violin-piano duos Aftersong and Ringtone Variations. Clockwork, written
for Lewis Kaplan, features what the composer calls “occasional evocations of
mechanical movements suggestive of the gears of a clock.”

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Violin Sonata in
A Major, K. 526

This bravura masterpiece is among the last of Mozart’s 32
duo sonatas for violin and piano. Unlike many of his earlier sonatas—which were
designed to highlight his own virtuosity at the keyboard and cast the violin in
a subordinate, accompanying role—the two parts in the A-Major Sonata are so evenly
balanced and intricately interwoven that it’s impossible to say which is the
more prominent.

OTTORINO RESPIGHI Violin Sonata in B
Minor

Respighi was still smarting from
the disappointing reception of Fountains
of Rome—the first of his symphonic poems and destined to be hugely popular—when
he wrote this bracingly virtuosic sonata in 1917. The two works share a
lyrical, richly textured late-Romantic idiom. The sonata’s vigorously
contrapuntal finale attests to the composer’s interest in music of the
pre-Classical era.

CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS Introduction and
Rondo capriccioso, Op. 28

Saint-Saëns’s Spanish-flavored showpiece is one of many
works inspired by the dazzling virtuosity of Pablo de Sarasate. Both composer
and violinist were in the early stages of their careers when they first met in Paris in the late 1850s. In
addition to the Introduction and Rondo capriccioso, the Frenchman wrote two
concertos that showcased Sarasate’s combination of elegance and bravura.

Bios

Anne-Sophie Mutter

Anne-Sophie Mutter celebrates 40 years as a violin virtuoso and musical phenomenon, which
began with her debuts in recital at the 1976 Lucerne Festival and as a soloist ...

Anne-Sophie Mutter celebrates 40 years as a violin virtuoso and musical phenomenon, which
began with her debuts in recital at the 1976 Lucerne Festival and as a soloist with the
Berliner Philharmoniker and Herbert von Karajan at the 1977 Salzburg Whitsun Concert. In
four decades she has become one of the leading international artists in the world's major
concert halls, serving not only as soloist, but as a visionary in supporting composers and
mentoring young string players.

The four-time Grammy Award winner is fully committed both to the performance of
traditional composers and to the future of music. So far, she has given world premieres of
24 works by composers who include Sebastian Currier, Henri Dutilleux, Sofia Gubaidulina,
Witold Lutosławski, Norbert Moret, Krzysztof Penderecki, Sir André Previn, and Wolfgang
Rihm.

Furthermore, she dedicates herself to numerous benefit projects and to supporting
tomorrow's emerging artists. In the autumn of 1997, she founded the Association of Friends
of the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation, to which the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation was added
in 2008. These two charitable institutions provide support for scholarship recipients.
Since 2011, Ms. Mutter has regularly appeared with her ensemble of fellows, the Mutter
Virtuosi.

The year 2017, featuring concerts in Europe in North America, reflects the
violinist's musical versatility and illustrates her unparalleled rank in the world of
classical music. At the Tanglewood Festival, she performs the world premiere of John
Williams's work Markings for solo violin, strings, and harp. She also appears at
the Salzburg Whitsun and Summer Festivals, Lucerne Summer Festival, and La Scala in Milan,
as well as with the Berliner Philharmoniker, Staatskapelle Berlin, Boston Symphony
Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony
Orchestra, and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. She will perform and record Schubert's
"Trout" Quintet with Daniil Trifonov and three of her young fellows, and Vivaldi's The
Four Seasons with the Mutter Virtuosi. Together with pianist Lambert Orkis, she gives
recitals in Europe and North America.

Anne-Sophie Mutter has been awarded the 2017 Crystal Award by the World Economic Forum for
her services to music education and young artists. She is the proud holder of the Siemens
Music Prize, German Grand Order of Merit, French Medal of the Legion of Honour,
Bavarian Order of Merit, Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria, and
numerous other honors. For additional information, visit
anne-sophie-mutter.de.

Lambert Orkis

The musical interests of Lambert Orkis encompass traditional and contemporary music
performed on modern and period instruments. His substantial career includes more than ...

The musical interests of Lambert Orkis encompass traditional and contemporary music
performed on modern and period instruments. His substantial career includes more than 11
years of international touring as a partner with cellist Mstislav Rostropovich. For 28
years, he has appeared with violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter to capacity audiences in the
world's finest performance venues. Their many recordings and DVDs for Deutsche Grammophon
include The Club Album, and the complete sonatas by Mozart (Choc de l'année),
Beethoven (Grammy), and Brahms.

His distinguished career includes appearances with cellists Lynn Harrell, Anner Bylsma,
and Daniel Müller-Schott; violinist Julian Rachlin; and violist Steven Dann. He has also
performed with the Vertavo, Emerson, American, Mendelssohn, Curtis, and Manchester string
quartets. As a soloist, he has made appearances with conductors who include Christoph
Eschenbach, Mstislav Rostropovich, Leonard Slatkin, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Günther
Herbig, Robert Kapilow, Leon Fleisher, and Kenneth Slowik, among others.

Mr. Orkis has premiered and recorded compositions of numerous composers, including solo
works by George Crumb, Richard Wernick, and James Primosch for Bridge Records. With the
National Symphony Orchestra's principal cellist David Hardy, he recorded Beethoven's
complete works for piano and cello on the Sono Luminus label.

Mr. Orkis participated as a distinguished performing artist and teacher. He has twice
served as juror of and performed for the Trondheim (Norway) International Chamber Music
Competition and Festival. As an honored artist at Taiwan's New Aspect International Music
Festival, he performed and presented master classes in Taipei.

Mr. Orkis has appeared internationally as an orchestral soloist, performs and records as a
member of the Kennedy Center Chamber Players and the Smithsonian Institution's Castle Trio
(on period instruments), and holds the positions of principal keyboard of the National
Symphony Orchestra and professor of piano at Temple University in Philadelphia. In
acknowledgment of his accomplishments, Mr. Orkis was honored with the Cross of the Order of
Merit by the Federal Republic of Germany.